A retired electrician died of asbestos poisoning decades after he was exposed to the material, an inquest in Oxford heard yesterday.

Cecil Angus, 88, of Dorchester Place, Thame, died of a tumour in the lungs on December 16 last year.

Dr Lesley Bennett, consultant chest physician at the Churchill Hospital, in Oxford, said Mr Angus had been admitted to the hospital on December 13.

A tumour surrounding his right lung and part of his left lung were found. Dr Colin Clelland, consultant pathologist at the John Radcliffe hospital, said such tumours were virtually always caused by exposure to asbestos dust.

Mr Angus was employed by GEC, formerly known as English Electricity. He had spent time working in factories where asbestos would have been present. Coroner Nicholas Gardiner recorded a verdict that Mr Angus died from an industrial disease.